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News Flash: Workplace Legislation Update

There is a lot of important new legislation affecting the workplace that Gov. Davis has signed into law. As the final hour for approving legislation approached, the governor vetoed bills to increase workers’ comp benefits, boost unemployment payments, expand leave for family and medical care, ban secret monitoring of employee e-mail and computer records, and […]

HR Interview Questions

What do you, as an HR professional, need to tell your supervisors about interview questions that can be asked during a job interview? The following are permissible interview questions for employers:

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on March 9. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. hy some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent — from the author of Blink: The Power […]

Health Care: California Health Care Reform Gets a Step Closer

The California Assembly has voted in favor of a landmark health care reform measure—A.B. x1 1, the Health Care Security and Cost Reduction Act—which is backed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. If approved there and signed by the governor, the bill would then go to voters in November […]

California Supreme Court Focuses on Wage and Hour Issues

Already set to decide the troublesome meal period issue (whether employers must “ensure” or “provide” employee meal periods) in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court and Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc., the California Supreme Court has just agreed to review two other cases involving wage and hour issues.

Courts, Agencies Take Mixed Actions Affecting Same-sex Partners

Branches of the federal government have taken divergent actions affecting same-sex partners. A federal district court upheld a state law defining marriage as occurring between a man and a woman; meanwhile, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has issued final and proposed regulations to expand federal employees’ benefits coverage to their same-sex partners and those […]

Domestic Assault Victims Now Shielded by Antidiscrimination Laws

Workers who experience domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking may be protected from discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to new guidance from the federal government. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is responsible for enforcing both of those laws, made the announcement in […]

New Harassment Legislation: Governor Expands Law To Cover Independent Contractors; 3 Important Steps To Take

One advantage of using independent contractors has traditionally been that you could not be sued for many employment-related disputes. But because Governor Davis has just signed a new law expanding harassment protections to independent contractors, you will now have to be more cautious in how you deal with them. The measure takes effect January 1, […]